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Papers by Ségolène Tarte

Dagstuhl Reports, 4(7):112–134, 2014.

This report documents the program and the outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 14302 “Digital Palaeograph... more This report documents the program and the outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 14302 “Digital Palaeography:
New Machines and Old Texts”, which focused on the interaction of Palaeography
and computerized tools developed in Computer Vision for the analysis of digital images. This
seminar intertwined research reports from the most advanced teams in the field and interdisciplinary
discussions on the potentials and limitations of future research and the establishment of
a community of practice in Digital Palaeography. It resulted in new research directions in the
Computer Sciences and new research strategies in Palaeography and in a better understanding
of how to conduct interdisciplinary research across all the fields of expertise involved in Digital
Palaeography.

In E. Simperl, N. Contractor, J. Hendler, and N. Shadbolt, editors, WWW ’14: Companion Publication of the 23rd International World Wide Web Conference, pages 909–914. IW3C2, ACM, 2014.

Although Social Machines do not have yet a formalized definition, some efforts have been made to ... more Although Social Machines do not have yet a formalized definition, some efforts have been made to characterize them
from a “machinery” point of view. In this paper, we present
a methodology by which we attempt to reveal the sociality
of Social Machines; to do so, we adopt the analogy of sto-
ries. By assimilating a Social Machine to a story, we can
identify the stories within and about that machine and how
this storytelling perspective might reveal the sociality of So-
cial Machines. After illustrating this storytelling approach
with a few examples, we then propose three axes of inquiry
to evaluate the health of a social machine: (1) assessment
of the sociality of a Social Machine through evaluation of its
storytelling potential and realization; (2) assessment of the
sustainability of a Social Machine through evaluation of its
reactivity and interactivity; and (3) assessment of emergence
through evaluation of the collaboration between authors and
of the distributed/mixed nature of authority.

ABSTRACT As a scoping exercise in the design of our Social Machines Observatory we consider the o... more ABSTRACT As a scoping exercise in the design of our Social Machines Observatory we consider the observation of Social Machines "in the wild", as illustrated through two scenarios. More than identifying and classifying individual machines, we argue that we need to study interactions between machines and observe them throughout their lifecycle. We suggest that purpose may be a key notion to help identify individual Social Machines in composed systems, and that mixed observation methods will be required. This exercise provides a basis for later work on how we instrument and observe the ecosystem.

""Ancient textual artefacts are the substrate of our scholarly knowledge of ancient civilisations... more ""Ancient textual artefacts are the substrate of our scholarly knowledge of ancient civilisations.
This knowledge is discovered, extracted, created through the daily practice of interpretation
of these ancient documents. The cognitive aspects of this act of knowledge creation are at
the core of the research presented in this paper. In order to identify the various cognitive
processes that are mobilized to extract meaning from ancient and difficult to read textual
artefacts, I have observed how papyrologists approach the task of interpreting Roman stylus
tablets and how assyriologists study tablets written in an as-yet-undeciphered script,
Proto-Elamite. Linking these observations with findings from the cognitive sciences, I have
identified perceptual processes that establish a visual feedback loop, a kinaesthetic feedback
loop, and an aural feedback loop. These feedback loops only become effective sense-making
mechanisms if they integrate processes that allow for knowledge to grow. These
processes are conceptual processes which involve semantic memory, structural knowledge
as well as insight, creativity, and collaboration.""

This paper describes a case-study conducted to model digitally the Artemidorus papyrus as a roll.... more This paper describes a case-study conducted to model digitally the Artemidorus papyrus as a roll. It presents how the correspondence between digital images of recto and verso was established and the adoption of a spiral model to reconstitute the papyrus as a rolled virtual 3D object. We suggest that the thickness of the papyrus (undocumented, to the author's knowledge) is roughly 0.45 mm. It is further shown that D'Alessio's (2009) re-ordering of sections (a) and (b+c) of the papyrus is justified. Against expectations, the digital world shifts focus on the papyrus from a pure-content perspective to a content-within-a-material-context perspective. This material context, revealed by the use of digital technologies, gives invaluable clues in the trail of evidence gathered to build an understanding of P. Artemid.

Papyrology is an interpretative practice that aims to decipher, transcribe and interpret ancient ... more Papyrology is an interpretative practice that aims to decipher, transcribe and interpret ancient texts.
This paper presents an enquiry into papyrological digitization and visualization in the age of computerization.
It first establishes that, in the particular case of text-bearing artefacts, visual perception and cognition are so tightly intertwined that the acts of computational digitization and visualization are intrinsically interpretative.
For experts, seeing and knowing are so closely related that they intuitively adopt methodologies of seeing, which, if incorporated into the act of digitization, can empower the cognitive processes that enable them to identify letters and words on the digitized version of the artefact.
It further explores what these interpretative digitization and visualization processes entail in terms of the ontology of the resulting digitized version(s) of a text-bearing artefact.
The digitized versions of a text-bearing artefact seem to not only depart from mimetic representations, but also to re-materialize the artefact by expressing some form of its presence.
Indeed, they have three ontological characteristics that establish a bidirectional relationship between the (digital) representation and the real: they are encoded, both numerically and culturally; they are embedded into the real, through the handling and interactions they prompt; and they influence the real, by participating in the interpretation of the artefact in a performative way.
Digitization and visualization are thus an integral part of the papyrological workflow, and as all of the other choices of interpretation in papyrology, they are entitled to be reported upon, justified and debated.

Digital papyrology encompasses artefact digitization and digital support for its interpretation. ... more Digital papyrology encompasses artefact digitization and digital support for its interpretation. Digitization is never neutral, and this paper presents how, within the e-Science and Ancient Documents project (eSAD), we are developing a software tool that strives to support the act of interpretation whilst both avoiding spurious exactitude and allowing genuine uncertainty. We first assert that digitization is both sampling {\sl and} interpreting. Our model of papyrological interpretation thus takes on board the types of expertise that papyrologists draw onto while interpreting ancient and scarcely legible documents. Mimesis serving as a guiding principle, we present how we digitize our text-bearing artefacts (in particular incised documents), taking into account the real-world strategies of the experts. We then argue that, throughout the interpretation process, uncertainty plays a key role, which we illustrate with the example of a Roman stylus tablet that was interpreted twice ninety-two years apart. To allow the expression of uncertainty, we show how mimesis is again our design strategy: our tool aims to enable the experts to trace the text --a strategy we observed them deploying; further it will support reasoning about hypotheses of interpretation by setting an epistemological framework in which pieces of evidence towards hypotheses of interpretation can be evaluated as in crossword puzzle solving --another expert strategy.

Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention – MICCAI 2001, 2001

This study presents a new developed software module for Computer Assisted Surgery (Surgigate, Med... more This study presents a new developed software module for Computer Assisted Surgery (Surgigate, Medivision, Oberdorf, Switzerland), allowing independent registration of two fragments and real time virtual representation while reduction occurs. Three fracture models were used to evaluate the accuracy: geometric foam blocks, a pelvic ring injury with symphysis and disruption of SI-joint and a pelvic ring fracture with symphysis disruption and transforaminal sacral fracture. One examiner performed both visual and virtual controlled ...

Abstract This paper describes recent progress in developing motion and biomechanical models for i... more Abstract This paper describes recent progress in developing motion and biomechanical models for image guided interventions. The challenge is to provide navigational support for interventions and image directed therapies on soft or mobile structures. We describe our recent progress in generating and testing models of respiratory motion for image directed radiotherapy and focal ablation in the lung and liver, and the development of biomechanical models for image guided local excision in breast surgery.

Deciphering ancient and damaged documents is a complex investigative task that papyrologists rout... more Deciphering ancient and damaged documents is a complex investigative task that papyrologists routinely undertake to extract meaning from the script.
Perception and interpretation play an essential role.
In this paper, we present methods for transferring to the digital world some of the processes that experts draw upon when interpreting a text, with the ultimate aim of constructing an Interpretation Support System (ISS) for papyrologists.
Image-capture and image-processing approaches that reflect real-world perceptual processes have been implemented.
In addition, we propose an expansion of a previously built model of papyrological reading and transcription.
We make explicit some of the implicit processes involved in an interpretation effort, using an example where papyrologists developed hypotheses for the identification of a puzzling letter form.
Two distinct yet not mutually exclusive approaches to the interpretation task have been identified: the kinaesthetic/palaeographical strategy and the cruciverbalistic/philological strategy.
The ISS will have to facilitate both approaches.
Mechanisms triggering the emergence of working hypotheses of interpretation, which we call percepts, have also been pinpointed; they include skilled vision, scholarly expectations, aspect shifting and local-global oscillations.
Working hypotheses being triggered by such mechanisms can then be exposed as an explicit network of sourced percepts; these mechanisms also confer a qualitative well-foundedness to the percepts and hence help us to retrace and assess the rationale leading to a specific interpretation.

This paper presents methodologies that have been adopted to enhance the legibility of incised tex... more This paper presents methodologies that have been adopted to enhance the legibility of incised texts, in particular Roman wooden stylus tablets, for which the texts consist of the incisions left in the wood through a now-perished coat of wax originally covering the wood. Digitization of such artefacts is the first step in the development of an interpretation of the document. At this stage, mimesis of the real-world strategy of the classicists is a guiding principle. Taking into account the 3D nature of the document, shadow-stereo and reflectance transformation imaging allow us to capture and to encode multiple images of the text under varying illumination conditions for further processing and visualization. Image processing algorithms were developed to isolate the text features. Background correction is first performed; then ways to achieve text feature extraction have been explored: phase congruency, which exploits the fact that visual features are detected for some properties of local phase of the image in the Fourier domain; and Markov Random Fields, which take a statistical approach to region labelling for image segmentation. Most techniques used here were inspired by approaches adopted by medical image processing. These methods had however to be largely adapted to our specific application; in general, the images of artefacts and their features of interest are not only different from medical images, also the type of visual expertise required to detect the text features differs greatly from that of radiologists. We conclude by observing that by better understanding the nature of the classicists visual expertise, we will further be able to integrate prior knowledge into a model of visual perception adapted to the classicists needs, hence supporting them in building meaning out of a pure signal, in building an interpretation of an artefact.

$Research paper thumbnail of Computer-assisted fracture reduction: Novel method for analysis of accuracy$

Anatomic reduction of displaced fractures is limited by the chosen surgical approach and intraope... more Anatomic reduction of displaced fractures is limited by the chosen surgical approach and intraoperative visualization. Preoperative Computed Tomography (CT) enhances the analysis of the fracture pattern and provides accurate spatial relationships. Computer Assisted Surgery (CAS) was introduced to increase the accuracy of specific surgical procedures. CAS systems can be used for implant placement or osteotomies in intact bone or reduced situations prior to obtaining the CT data, as differentiation into different datasets related to specific fragments is not yet possible. We present a model that allows "virtual" controlled reduction, providing computer assistance during the fracture reduction. Prior to clinical application, the accuracy of the process of virtual reduction must be proven in an experimental setting. An in vitro fracture model with two body fragments and a motion tracking system for three-dimensional (3D) control (accuracy 0.1 mm and 0.1 degrees ) was used. Two methods were employed: direct visualization and reduction by the examiner, and "virtual" reduction, performed solely with the use of a computer image, in which the examiner lacks any direct visualization of the fragments. The results of this very simplified "fracture" model indicate that the overall difference between direct and virtual controlled reduction was very small. A significant difference of 0.3 mm (0-1.8 mm) was seen for the residual displacement represented by the Euclidean distance (p < 0.01), whereas the difference in the residual angulation was not significant (p > 0.05). The methods tested revealed that virtual controlled reduction is nearly as accurate as direct visualization. Reduction control utilizing a motion tracker system reveals accurate 3D information in this simplified reduction setup, and is now used as a standard setup for analyzing realistic fracture models.

Summary Respiratory-induced tumour motion shows marked intra-and inter-fraction variability over ... more Summary Respiratory-induced tumour motion shows marked intra-and inter-fraction variability over a course of radiotherapy. This has implications for Internal Target Volume definition, and the delivery of gated or tracked radiotherapy. We investigated a novel method of respiratory coaching to see if this could reduce variability. 15 subjects participated in 2 different assessments of coaching: Spirometry based and VisionRT-Tracked-Point based. The order of participation was randomised.

ABSTRACT A hybrid X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging system (XMR) has been proposed as an inter... more ABSTRACT A hybrid X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging system (XMR) has been proposed as an interventional guidance for cardiovascular catheterisation procedure. However, very few hospitals can benefit from the XMR system because of its limited availability. In this paper we describe a new guidance strategy for cardiovascular catheterisation procedure. In our technique, intra-operative patient position is estimated by using a chest surface reconstructed from a photogrammetry system.

Radiotherapy and Oncology, 2009

Medical Physics, 2006

Respiratory motion causes errors when planning and delivering radiotherapy treatment to lung canc... more Respiratory motion causes errors when planning and delivering radiotherapy treatment to lung cancer patients. To reduce these errors, methods of acquiring and using four-dimensional computed tomography ͑4DCT͒ datasets have been developed. We have developed a novel method of constructing computational motion models from 4DCT. The motion models attempt to describe an average respiratory cycle, which reduces the effects of variation between different cycles. They require substantially less memory than a 4DCT dataset, are continuous in space and time, and facilitate automatic target propagation and combining of doses over the respiratory cycle. The motion models are constructed from CT data acquired in cine mode while the patient is free breathing ͑free breathing CT -FBCT͒. A "slab" of data is acquired at each couch position, with 3-4 contiguous slabs being acquired per patient. For each slab a sequence of 20 or 30 volumes was acquired over 20 seconds. A respiratory signal is simultaneously recorded in order to calculate the position in the respiratory cycle for each FBCT. Additionally, a high quality reference CT volume is acquired at breath hold. The reference volume is nonrigidly registered to each of the FBCT volumes. A motion model is then constructed for each slab by temporally fitting the nonrigid registration results. The value of each of the registration parameters is related to the position in the respiratory cycle by fitting an approximating B spline to the registration results. As an approximating function is used, and the data is acquired over several respiratory cycles, the function should model an average respiratory cycle. This can then be used to calculate the value of each degree of freedom at any desired position in the respiratory cycle. The resulting nonrigid transformation will deform the reference volume to predict the contents of the slab at the desired position in the respiratory cycle. The slab model predictions are then concatenated to produce a combined prediction over the entire region of interest. We have performed a number of experiments to assess the accuracy of the nonrigid registration results and the motion model predictions. The individual slab models were evaluated by expert visual assessment and the tracking of easily identifiable anatomical points. The combined models were evaluated by calculating the discontinuities between the transformations at the slab boundaries. The experiments were performed on five patients with a total of 18 slabs between them. For the point tracking experiments, the mean distance between where a clinician manually identified a point and where the registration results located the point, the target registration error ͑TRE͒, was 1.3 mm. The mean distance between a manually identified point and the models prediction of the point's location, the target model error ͑TME͒, was 1.6 mm. The mean discontinuity between model predictions at the slab boundaries, the Continuity Error, was 2.2 mm. The results show that the motion models perform with a level of accuracy comparable to the slice thickness of 1.5 mm.

$Research paper thumbnail of Virtual 3D planning of acetabular fracture reduction$

Journal of …, Jan 1, 2008

Displaced acetabular fractures are best treated with open reduction to achieve anatomic reduction... more Displaced acetabular fractures are best treated with open reduction to achieve anatomic reduction and maximize the chance of a good functional outcome. Because of the anatomic complexity and often limited visualization, fracture reduction can be difficult. Virtual planning software can allow the surgeon to understand the fracture morphology and to rehearse reduction maneuvers. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a novel virtual fracture reduction module on time and accuracy of reduction. Four acetabular fracture patterns were created in synthetic pelves, which were implanted with fiducial markers and were registered with CT scan. Ten surgeons used virtual fracture reduction software or conventional 2D planning methods and immediately reduced the fractures blindly in a viscous gel medium. 3D imaging was again performed and the accuracy of reduction was assessed. The average malreduction was significantly improved following planning with the virtual software compared to the standard technique. The time taken for reduction was also significantly less for two of the four fracture patterns. Virtual software may be useful for visualizing and planning treatment of fractures of the acetabulum, potentially leading to more accurate and efficient reductions, and may also be an effective educational tool.

Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 2002

A newly developed software module for computer-assisted surgery based on a commercially available... more A newly developed software module for computer-assisted surgery based on a commercially available navigation system allows simultaneous, independent registration of two fragments and real-time navigation of both fragments while reduction occurs. To evaluate the accuracy three fracture models were used: geometric foam blocks, a pelvic ring injury with disruption of the symphysis and the sacroiliac joint, and a pelvic ring fracture with symphysis disruption and a transforaminal sacral fracture. One examiner did visual and navigated reduction and in all experiments the end point was defined as anatomic reduction. Residual displacement was measured with a magnetic motion tracking device. The results revealed a significantly increased residual displacement with navigated reduction compared with visual control. The differences were low, averaging 1 mm for residual translation and 0.7 degrees for the residual rotation, respectively. Residual displacement was small in both set-ups and may not be clinically relevant. Additional development of the software prototype with integration of surface registration may lead to improved handling and facilitated multifragment tracking. Use in the clinical setting should be possible within a short time.

Dagstuhl Reports, 4(7):112–134, 2014.

In E. Simperl, N. Contractor, J. Hendler, and N. Shadbolt, editors, WWW ’14: Companion Publication of the 23rd International World Wide Web Conference, pages 909–914. IW3C2, ACM, 2014.

Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention – MICCAI 2001, 2001

$Research paper thumbnail of Computer-assisted fracture reduction: Novel method for analysis of accuracy$

Radiotherapy and Oncology, 2009

Medical Physics, 2006

$Research paper thumbnail of Virtual 3D planning of acetabular fracture reduction$

Journal of …, Jan 1, 2008

Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 2002

""This talk will present some cognitive aspects of the study of Ancient textual Artefacts and how... more ""This talk will present some cognitive aspects of the study of Ancient textual Artefacts and how understanding these cognitive processes has the potential to influence, complement, and ultimately enhance the use of digital tools. As such, it will situate itself at the confluence of the Digital Humanities and of the Cognitive Humanities.

Scholars studying Ancient Textual Artefacts endeavour to create knowledge through the decipherment, transcription, transliteration, edition, commentary, and contextualization of textual artefacts, thereby transforming data and information into knowledge and meaning. Their task is hence intrinsically interpretative, and relies heavily on the mobilization of both perceptual and conceptual cognitive processes.

To illustrate the claim that the act of knowledge creation is interpretative, I will briefly present the example of a Roman tablet that was interpreted once in 1917 and a second time in 2009. I will then argue that the act of digitization of Ancient Textual Artefacts already participates in the act of interpretation of textual artefacts, thereby conferring to the digitized versions of the textual artefacts three ontological characteristics making them into avatars of textual artefacts.

I will then describe how, in an effort to integrate these observations into the design and development of digital tools, I have focused on analysing the expert practices of scholars working with ancient textual artefacts. Applying ethnographic methodologies and cross-referencing my findings with results from the cognitive sciences literature, I was able to identify a set a perceptual processes that intervene in the act of interpretation of ancient textual artefacts, as well as a set of conceptual processes. I will highlight three types of perceptual, embodied processes: (1) visual processes, which, as I will illustrate through the example of digital modelling work conducted on the Artemidorus papyrus, can also involve physical interactions; (2) kinaesthetic processes, where the act of tracing the texts participates in decipherment – a claim that also holds true for undeciphered texts such as Proto-Elamite, as the cognitive sciences literature on pseudo-letters would seem to suggest; and (3) aural processes, where sounding out the texts can trigger breakthroughs – a claim supported by the literature on word recognition. I will then present three types of conceptual processes involving: (1) semantic memory, also involved in word recognition; (2) acquisition and mobilization of unconscious structural knowledge, for which the cognitive sciences literature on artificial grammar learning seems to suggest that exposure to structured scripts generates unconscious knowledge; and (3) insights (aka “aha!” moments), for which the literature on creativity proposes a wide variety of possible triggers.

I will conclude by claiming that by bringing the cognitive into the digital humanities, both the Cognitive Humanities and the Digital Humanities have the exciting potential to enrich each other and empower the humans doing Humanities research.""

"One of the main activities of the Humanities consists of making sense of events, documents, obje... more "One of the main activities of the Humanities consists of making sense of events, documents, objects, ephemera, corpora - data, for short. With the rise of Big Data and algorithmic approaches in the Digital Humanities, there is a tendency to approach the Humanities as an evidence-based field. Considering the Humanities solely under this perspective however tends to limit the data-transformation flow to a conversion of data into information, when the much sought after grail of the Humanities actually consists of knowledge and meaning. The Humanities are intrinsically interpretative and it is through interpretation that knowledge and meaning are created, discovered. The cognitive processes at play in creating and discovering both knowledge and meaning are hence the essence of the Humanities, so that identifying these cognitive approaches and supporting them digitally has the potential to inform and enrich the Digital Humanities.
Working on these premises, I will present how, by adopting a methodology that attempts to cross the divide between ethnography and the cognitive sciences, I have identified a number of specific perceptual processes, which are mobilised by scholars studying ancient textual artefacts. By observing the cognitive power of these perceptual processes, it is then possible to transpose real-world interactions with the textual artefacts into cognitively empowered virtual interactions with digital avatars of the artefacts. Examples comprise: Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) as a digitization strategy allowing 3D perception through monocular parallax motion; kinaesthetic approaches to reading artefacts (e.g. proto-Elamite tablets ~3200-2700 BC; Roman wax tablets ~1st century AD), where tracing the text allows to connect text-as-shape and text-as-meaning.
"

One of the striking characteristics of early texts is their three-dimensionality; in particular, ... more One of the striking characteristics of early texts is their three-dimensionality; in particular, in cuneiform scripts they consist in wedge-shaped impressions in clay.
With the advent of digital technologies, more and more projects are pushing towards digitization of this ancient material in order to preserve and record it. In this paper I will explore the mutual influence that the materiality of these texts and their digitization have on each other through the prism of an ethnographic study of Assyriologists grappling with Proto-Elamite clay tablets, a yet-undeciphered script originating in contemporary western Iran and dated between 3100 and 2900 BC.

Script decipherment is an intrinsically interpretative process in which materiality plays an integral part. Therefore, when digitizing textual artefacts, care must taken to support as many of the cognitive processes involved in the interpretation of these documents as possible. One way to achieve this is to emulate and enable the perceptual and instinctive strategies that experts draw onto when looking at these texts. Reflectance Transformation Imaging is such a technique; it allows the experts to virtually change the light shone onto the texts, revealing zones of highlights and shadows, exploiting the phenomenon that psychologists call “apparent movement”, and thus prompting depth perception – a crucial piece of information in inscribed texts. As digitized textual artefacts often become one of the primary sources for the study of the artefacts, it is crucial to understand the epistemology of the act of interpretation of these texts, and to grasp the ontology of their digitized version(s). Far from mimetic, these avatars of the artefacts actually are: encoded, both culturally and computationally; embedded into the real, as almost-primary sources to work from; and they influence the real, as interpretation spawns from them. In that sense, digitization can be a conveyor of materiality; it is by digitally capturing the cognitively empowering material aspects of the texts that interpretation can be supported, enabled, facilitated.

Ancient textual artefacts, as individual objects and as corpora, are the substrate of our scholar... more Ancient textual artefacts, as individual objects and as corpora, are the substrate of our scholarly knowledge of ancient civilisations. This knowledge is discovered, extracted, created through the daily practice of interpretation of these ancient documents. The cognitive processes involved in this act of knowledge creation, and the search for strategies to support them digitally are at the core of the research presented in this paper.

Building on previous research that established the importance of encapsulating interpretation strategies in the digitisation of textual artefacts, we seek to expand the functionalities of the piece of software that enables the visualization of the digitised artefacts. Its aim is to further enable the users to record their key choices in their building of an interpretation. At the digitisation stage, it was essential to capture the aspects of the materiality of the textual artefact that enabled interpretation, namely that the script is inscribed in the artefact, creating critical zones of highlights and shadows on the object [1]. This was achieved through Reflectance Transformation Imaging [2], a methodology, which, with its associated software, forms the starting point of the current research. In order to identify the various cognitive styles mobilised to extract meaning from ancient and difficult to read documents, after having observed how papyrologists approached the task, we have turned our attention to assyriologists attempting to read an as-yet-undeciphered script, Proto-Elamite.

I will present an ethnographic study of assyriologists grappling with Proto-Elamite clay tablets, and the nature of some of the cognitive processes involved in their sense-making activity. Independently of the scholars’ respective cognitive styles, their interpretation building pursuit invariably involves image-based semantic perception of the script. Combined with a tailored set of schemes and critical questions (as developed in argumentation theory, a field at the crossroads of artificial intelligence and philosophy) and mind-mapping software principles (where rationale building is typically non-linear), the findings of this ethnographic study inform the design of our piece of interpretation support software.

References:
[1] S. M. Tarte, “Digitizing the act of papyrological interpretation: negotiating spurious exactitude and genuine uncertainty,” Lit Linguist Computing, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 349–58, 2011.
[2] G. Earl, P. J. Basford, A. S. Bischoff, A. Bowman, C. Crowther, M. Hodgson, K. Martinez, L. Isaksen, H. Pagi, K. E. Piquette, and E. Kotoula, “Reflectance transformation imaging systems for ancient documentary artefacts,” in Electronic Visualisation and the Arts, (London, UK), BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, July 2011.

This talk presents shortly the cognitive processes papyrologists tap into when deciphering, trans... more This talk presents shortly the cognitive processes papyrologists tap into when deciphering, transcribing and interpreting ancient documentary artefacts. Based on those observations, I further show how the ontology of the digitized versions of a text-bearing artefact deviates from the traditional mimetic model. Digitized artefacts share three ontological characteristics with Mesopotamian salmus (images, representations): they are encoded, embedded into the real and they influence the real; they are avatars of the artefact, expressing a specific form of presence of the artefact conditioned by the act of digitization. I then move on to explore how this new ontology influences scholarly practice: the impact it has on the solving and introduction of uncertainties, and on the act of knowledge creation itself.
I conclude by stating that not only the provenance of the data should be documented but also the process of interpretation itself, at all its stages.

• Consensus on the fact that the process:

![Research paper thumbnail of Is expertise an asset or a hindrance? Or how research `facilitators’ need to gauge their chameleon-like abilities.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/952328/thumbnails/1.jpg)

Linking up two projects that are dedicated to facilitate the work of documentary scholars, this p... more Linking up two projects that are dedicated to facilitate the work of documentary scholars, this paper presents image processing algorithms tailored to the study of ancient documents and how they have been made available to the users through a portal that calls upon a web-service exploiting grid computational power. To that end, image processing algorithms were wrapped to fit into the National Grid Service (NGS) Uniform Execution Environment; the data model of an existing Virtual Research Environment (VRE-SDM) was extended; JSR-168 compliant portlets were developed to facilitate secure and seamless distributed image analysis; and a GridSAM interface between the portal and the NGS-installed algorithms was developed. The outcomes of the project include: a web-based application, a proof of concept for the usability of the VRE-SDM platform, an opportunity for wider dissemination for the image processing algorithms, and a proof of feasibility for the use of the NGS for Humanities applications.

This talk will present how, in the context of building an Interpretation Support System for the t... more This talk will present how, in the context of building an Interpretation Support System for the transcription and interpretation of ancient and damaged documents [1], we are working on developing strategies to port perception and interpretation into the Digital world.
Based on a specific example, I will briefly present our digitization process, which aims to mirror the experts’ real-world strategy, and the image processing algorithms we developed to enhance the images. I will then elaborate further on the chain of reasoning that progressively unravels when experts set to discover meaning to a text-bearing artefact. Building on previous work that identified 10 levels of reading in the transcription process [2], I will present some of the strategies that the experts adopt, and how the jumps between reading levels occur [3-7]. Throughout, examples will be given of the continuous tension and search for balance between ways-of-seeing and ways-of-looking, between intentionality and serendipity, between what the text-bearing object allows and what it invites; all in an effort to make explicit, some of the key implicit mechanisms that cause perception and interpretation to be so tightly intertwined.

References
1. Project website: http://esad.classics.ox.ac.uk
2. M. Terras. Image to Interpretation. An Intelligent System to Aid Historians in Reading the Vindolanda Texts. Oxford University Press, 2006.
3. H. C. Youtie. The papyrologist: artificer of fact. Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 4(1):19–33, 1963.
4. E. J. Gibson. Improvement in perceptual judgments as a function of controlled practice or training. Psychological Bulletin, 50(6):401–431, Nov 1953.
5. C. Grasseni, editor. Skilled visions: between apprenticship and standards, volume 6 of EASA - Learning Fields. Berghahn books, 2007.
6. R. Neer. Connoisseurship and the stakes of style. Critical Inquiry, 32(1):1–26, 2005.
7. D. E. Rumelhart and J. L. McClelland, editors. Parallel Distributed Processing: Explorations in the Microstructure of Cognition, volume II. MIT Press, 1986.